We will be going to the Veterinary Oncology and Hemotology Center in Norwalk, CT for Indy's cancer consultation. This will take place in about three weeks, as long as his wound continues healing as well as it has so far.

Dr Blabs spoke to one of the oncology vets there today and here's some basic info:

1) Indy will have 18 radiation sessions, one per day Monday through Friday for 3 straight weeks, then one session on Monday through Wednesday for the last week.

2) He will have to be anesthetized for each visit because he has to be absolutely motionless for the treatment.

3) The base cost for this treatment is $4,800. This does not include boarding (if we decide to board him for each week), gasoline and tolls if we decide to drive every day (three and a half hour round trip), and the propofol anesthesia that Indy must have.

After the consultation, I'll be able to post more information here.

Never make someone a priority in your life when that someone treats you like an option.

I actually expected this to cost more given the area we live in, so that quote wasn't all that surprising to me. It still made me go "OUCH", but I won't have to sell the Jeep or anything like that, LOL. Yet.

We have our income tax refund (replacing the windows will have to wait another year) and Care Credit (who's interest rate is cheaper than my dogs' emergency credit card), so I'm hoping we'll be okay. It means eating ramen and soup for the next few months, but he's my Best Bud, so......it will be a great diet for me! *sigh*

Never make someone a priority in your life when that someone treats you like an option.

I'll have to talk to the onco vet to be sure, but everything I'm reading says the radiation provides about a 90% cure rate.

The onco vet was VERY happy with the clean margins that Dr Blabs was able to get and was VERY happy with the Grade One rating, so Indy's chances are REALLY good with treatment. If he does NOT have the treatment, the tumor will grow back within a year.

Never make someone a priority in your life when that someone treats you like an option.

My friend works in radiation one day a week and said their patients love coming for treatment. She was telling me they play with them as soon as they get there with whatever toy is their favorite,then they have the treatment which doesn't take long at all.

Many people are going to go through this situation with their own dogs. I've worked in and around the veterinary industry long enough to know that some treatments can be very expensive due to many reasons, including the expertise and education of the doctor, the medications involved, the special equipment involved, etc etc. As kind of an "industry insider", I want to share my experience with others who don't know what to expect, and I know that many people won't realize just how much of an undertaking canine cancer treatment will cost them -- physically, emotionally, and financially.

I fully expect Indy's final cost for the entire cancer experience to top $10,000. That includes the surgery he just had (about $1,900), the daily bandage changes ($25 each), the tests needed before the radiation treatments can begin (xrays and bloodwork to make sure he's healthy enough to handle the treatments), the radiation treatments and all that entails, the follow-up appointments, the gasoline needed to get to all the appointments, and other miscellaneous items that will pop up along the way.

It's a staggering amount of money, but we're mostly prepared to deal with it. Without going into our personal financial information too much, we've made some sacrifices and juggled some stuff, and should be sorta okay. Yeah, it's going to be tight for a while, but we made the choice to do this for Indy and we're prepared to do what we have to do to make this happen.

We so very much appreciate the kind and generous offers of financial support. I actually don't know how to express my gratitude because mere words seem so.....lacking. So please know that you all have truly touched my heart.

With all that said, I want to thank everyone for the amazing amount of emotional support we've received from this forum. That makes going through this damn situation FAR easier than it would have been otherwise.

Never make someone a priority in your life when that someone treats you like an option.

CinderDee wrote:My friend works in radiation one day a week and said their patients love coming for treatment. She was telling me they play with them as soon as they get there with whatever toy is their favorite,then they have the treatment which doesn't take long at all.

Now we just have to pull off a bank heist.

We better do it soon before the banks all go under!

Did your friend happen to say how long the actual treatments are?

Never make someone a priority in your life when that someone treats you like an option.

Ooooo, yeah! What do they use for normal anesthesia and is propofol used often? What is the time of the actual radiation treatment? What is the time of the whole treatment from knock-out time until they wake up (a guesstimate)? I've got a bajillion questions, but those are the biggies for me right now.

Thanks, Dee!

Never make someone a priority in your life when that someone treats you like an option.

Ooooo, yeah! What do they use for normal anesthesia and is propofol used often? What is the time of the actual radiation treatment? What is the time of the whole treatment from knock-out time until they wake up (a guesstimate)?

I just called her and she said they use propofol and the actual radiation treatment is about 1-2 min, although she has seen them last 4min, but that's pretty rare. Her guesstimate for treatment from beginning to end would be 15 - 20 min.

wow. I thought the radiation might be pricey. I haven't heard (thats right haven't heard at all) of anywhere around here that can do it, at all. And we have this super fancy facility (fancier then us! ) on the mainland that does MRI's and all sorts of things and has about 10 different specialists.

hey, the procedure time isn't too long and Propofol is SO safe! Its great that they use this!

I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day, tomorrow doesn't look good either.
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"You didn't know of the magical powers of the break stick? It's up there with genies and Harry Potter as far as magic levels go." SisMorphine 01/07/07